Crossroads goes up in Spanish--9 new Young Guns--Warren pressured to change media strategy---Ovide will face Hassan in New Hampshire--Duncan won’t weigh in on Chicago strike

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EXCLUSIVO – CROSSROADS GPS NAILS OBAMA IN NEVADA: “You don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you’re trying to save for college,” President Obama told a New Hampshire crowd in 2010. The first part of the clip is the centerpiece of a $1.4 million ad campaign that’s being launched today by the non-profit arm of the Americans Crossroads Super PAC to coincide with his arrival in Las Vegas for a campaign swing. “He doesn’t get it,” a narrator says. “In Nevada, tourism means jobs. Under Obama, nearly 62,000 fewer Nevada jobs. Our home values: gone. America’s worst recovery, and a new recession could mean more jobs lost. But as Nevada struggles, Obama says ‘Don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas.’” Notably, the group is putting $474,000 behind a Spanish-language version that will stay on the air for three weeks. The other $900,000 will pay for a 10-day broadcast flight in the Las Vegas and Reno markets. Romney’s path in Nevada is much easier if Latino turnout can be dampened by driving up the president’s negatives. Ads like this can help. Watch en Espanol: http://goo.gl/RNCvu. In English: http://goo.gl/qEu8K.

OBAMA AD ATTACKS ROMNEY ON EVASIVENESS: "Mitt Romney, he won't reveal what's in his taxes and he won't tell you what he'd do to yours,” a narrator says in the 30-second spot. “To pay for huge new tax breaks for millionaires like him, Romney would have to raise taxes on the middle class. Two-thousand dollars for a family with children, says a non-partisan report. You could lose the deduction for your home mortgage, college tuition [and] health care. How much would you pay? Romney just won't say." “Won’t Say” will air in Iowa, Nevada, Virginia and Ohio. Policy Director James Kvaal argues in an accompanying memo that Romney has no way to raise $5 trillion in needed revenue without raising taxes on the middle class. Watch the ad: http://goo.gl/qMeIQ. Read the 7-page memo: http://goo.gl/ZHvja.

ROMNEY AD ATTACKS OBAMA IN SPANISH ON MEDICARE: “For years, we have paid into Medicare with our work. Now, when we need it, Obama has cut $716 billion from Medicare to pay for his Obamacare,” a female narrator says in Spanish. “The money we have paid to guarantee our healthcare will be used for a new program that’s not for us. Romney’s plan protects Medicare benefits for today’s seniors and strengthens it for future generations.” Watch: http://goo.gl/MF95e.

EXCLUSIVE – NRCC ANNOUNCES FOURTH ROUND OF YOUNG GUNS: The National Republican Congressional Committee has elevated nine more candidates to “Young Gun” status, the top tier of their four-level recruitment program. To get there, they need to establish a clear path to victory and achieve a series of benchmarks. The candidates are Jonathan Paton (AZ-01), Martha McSally (AZ-02), Vernon Parker (AZ-09), Andrew Roraback (CT-05), Lee Anderson (GA-12), Kerry Bentivolio (MI-11), David Joyce (OH-14), Markwayne Mullin (OK-02) and Randy Weber (TX-14).

As the primary season ends, the strike continues and West Virginia’s Democratic governor runs an ad against Obama, here’s POLITICO’s Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.

THE TRAIL TODAY—

OBAMA in NEVADA: Leaves the White House at 1:15 ET for a 5:25 PT rally in Las Vegas at the Cashman Center. Then he flies to Colorado and overnights in Denver.

BIDEN in OHIO: 12:30 ET speech at a Wright State University rally in Dayton. He’ll return to DC for a 7 p.m. reception with Jewish community leaders at the Naval Observatory. The VP will campaign in Iowa next Monday and Tuesday.

RYANin WISCONSIN and OHIO: 11 CT town hall in De Pere at the community ice center. 6:30 ET rally with country star John Michael Montgomery at the Clermont County Fairgrounds in Owensville.

ANN in FLORIDA: 4:35 ET “Women for Mitt” rally at a community center in Largo.

IN DC THIS AFTERNOON: I am moderating a panel on voter ID with NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions and Obama campaign general counsel Bob Bauer from 12:50-2. The discussion, sponsored by the Center for American Politics and Citizenship, happens at the National Association of Realtors Headquarters (500 New Jersey Ave. NW, 12th floor).

COUNTDOWN: 56 days.

THE AIR WAR –

FIRST LOOK—STEVE KING’S WIFE VALIDATES: “He’s had one wife, one house and one church for forty years. And I’m that one wife,” Marilyn King says at the top of a 30-second bio spot for the Iowa Republican incumbent. “Steve’s consistent trustworthy, fascinated by people. Listens, loves Iowa. I love it when he comes home from work each week. Iowa gets most of his time, but we get him on Sundays.” Just like the first ad, the tagline is “Bring him back.” The iconic conservative is facing the Agriculture secretary’s wife, Christie Vilsack, in one of the country’s marquee races. Watch: http://goo.gl/8WYz5.

NEVADA SENATE – BERKLEY ATTACKS HELLER ON DREAM ACT: Democratic Senate candidate Shelley Berkley is going on the air with two new ads today. "Fighter" highlights her support for extending unemployment benefits: http://goo.gl/nSwg0. "El Futuro de los DREAMers" is a Spanish-language ad that faults Republican incumbent Dean Heller for opposing the DREAM Act on the grounds that it is a "Band-Aid" which doesn’t deal with the bigger problems. It suggests that Heller and Republicans (John Boehner and Mitch McConnell photos appear) of wanting to throw undocumented Nevada students out of classrooms and deport them. Berkley’s second Spanish ad ties her to national Democrats. Watch (she approves the commercial in Spanish): http://goo.gl/hQoqP.

CONNECTICUT SENATE – MURPHY TARGETS MCMAHON WRESTLING EMPIRE: “The image CEO Linda McMahon is selling isn’t real,” a female narrator says in a commercial from Democratic Senate candidate Chris Murphy. “Her record? McMahon laid off workers while taking millions in tax credits. Denied them health care. Denied disability benefits. Now McMahon’s tax plan gives her a $7 million dollar tax cut while Connecticut’s middle class pays more. Hurting workers. Helping herself. CEO Linda McMahon was never on our side and she won’t be as senator.” Democrats are also pointing to this Connecticut Post story, which says the loan deal Murphy has come under fire for in recent days was not unusual: http://goo.gl/okBUH. A Hearst story has an American University lecturer saying a McMahon mailer takes her out of context: http://goo.gl/ZSZDT. Watch the ad: http://goo.gl/eqiC0.

WISCONSIN SENATE—THOMPSON PROMISES TO REFORM DC: “We’ve accomplished a lot together,” a smiling Tommy Thompson says in his new ad. The Republican Senate candidate recounts his years as governor in the 1990s: “We’ve created thousands of manufacturing jobs, we’ve cut taxes and we reformed welfare.” Then he positions himself as an outsider: “Today Washington is in desperate need of reform. They’re killing jobs and putting future generations in debt. My plan balances the budget and gets America working again.” Thompson is considered the slight frontrunner in the Badger State battle. The upbeat spot was produced by FP1 Strategies: http://goo.gl/SLfMO.

ARIZONA SENATE—CARMONA HIGHLIGHTS HEALTH CARE: Democratic Senate candidate Richard Carmona, who served as George Bush’s surgeon general, positions himself as an independent-minded expert in search of the solutions. “I’ve seen health care as a combat medic, nurse and trauma surgeon – how it can save lives. But I’ve also seen it as surgeon general – how politics can get in the way. Republicans and Democrats both get it wrong,” he says, wearing a lab coat. “We’ve got to make health care affordable for small business and working families, through innovation and preventive care while also cutting waste and fraud. I’m Rich Carmona, and I approve this message because it’s time to tackle tough problems together.” Watch: http://goo.gl/2QEET.

ILLINOIS HOUSE – BUSTOS FOCUSES ON TRADE: Democrat Cheri Bustos cuts her latest ad on the basketball court (she played college ball), using it as a metaphor to accuse Republican incumbent Bobby Schilling for voting to send jobs overseas. “The game only works when the rules are fair. On trade, Washington has rigged the game and sent our jobs overseas. Congressman Schilling wants to keep using our tax dollars to reward companies shipping jobs overseas, and I’ll stop them…I know our workers can compete against anyone if we give them a fair shot.” She ends by throwing a basketball with her back to the net and sinking it: http://goo.gl/PkiBk.

HOUSE MAJORITY PAC LAUNCHES $2.2 MILLION BUY IN 6 DISTRICTS—The Democratic Super PAC focused on retaking the House paints six Republicans as supportive of out-of-touch, extreme policies.

IA-04 (Des Moines and Sioux City): “Congressman [Steve]King voted to cut college loans and Pell grants. He sided with big banks that profit from student loans at our expense…Steve King, putting himself ahead of us.” http://goo.gl/8PvLt

CA-07 (Sacramento): “The middle class gets nothing with Dan Lungren, but Wall Street’s got him right here,” a narrator says as an arrow that points toward a cartoon character’s pocket. The SEIU is helping pay for this one: http://goo.gl/GmP1x.

NC-07 (Wilmington): “It stinks, but it’s legal. That’s how the Fayetteville Observer describes lobbyist-politician David Rouzer’s fundraising. Rouzer got his start as a Washington lobbyist, cashed that in to become a politician, then took thousands from lobbyists and let them rewrite his legislation. Another lobbyist politician giving access to special interests.” http://goo.gl/K0YQo

WI-07 (Wausau): “Logging, it’s a dangerous job. Many don’t have health insurance. But meet a lumberjack who does. Congressman Sean Duffy, he voted to give taxpayer-funded health care to members of Congress for life. Yet Sean Duffy says he struggles on his $174,000 salary.” http://goo.gl/aF1XD

MESSAGING—

ROMNEY AND RYAN WILL TALK ABOUT DEBT AND JOBS TODAY: “There is a jobs crisis in this country, and on top of that, the fiscal crisis is only growing worse,” a campaign official previews. “Our nation is now more than $16 trillion in debt. President Obama once called $4 trillion in debt ‘unpatriotic’ – but he’s now racked up more than $5 trillion in debt in less than one term in office. President Obama's failure of leadership is what ruined America’s perfect credit rating…The Obama Economy has been particularly devastating for women. On this president’s watch, we’ve lost more than 400,000 jobs held by women. Last week, we learned that nearly six million women are currently unemployed. The poverty rate for women is at its highest level in 17 years – and extreme poverty is at the highest rate ever recorded.” The campaign will release a research piece on the credit downgrade later this morning.

RNC WILL BRACKET OBAMA NEVADA SWING WITH HOUSING HIT: In 2008, Obama spoke during a campaign rally at the Cashman Center (where he’ll be today) and told Nevadans, “Our housing market is in shambles.” The Republican National Committee will highlight a quote from Obama in the new Woodward book in which he reportedly said, “We will not roll out an aggressive housing plan,” during the negotiations over stimulus.

CAP HIGHLIGHTS “THE TRUE COST OF ROMNEY” ON SWING STATE TOUR: The Center for American Progress Action Fund’s President and CEO Tom Perriello will hit the road on a “True Cost of Romney” Tour this week to customize the group’s attack on how he might hurt the middle class. The liberal group kicks things off today with a three-day barnstorming tour of five media markets in Ohio. Then they’re going to Pennsylvania, Colorado and Nevada over the next two weeks. More are in the works. They’re working with local progressive allies in each state for the former Virginia congressman and other experts to hold roundtables, trainings for activists, and hit ed boards, local TV, etc. They are also releasing custom reports for each state they visit on the potential negative impacts of a Romney presidency. Here’s the Ohio report as an example: http://goo.gl/pulHM.

POLLING—

GALLUP gives Obama a three-point convention bounce. His support rose from 47% to 50%. He now leads Romney by six. http://goo.gl/RUQZC

SUPPORT FOR A THIRD PARTY SLIPS: Just 46% say they think a major third-party is needed, down from the 50s in 2010 and 2011. http://goo.gl/I9Up1

CNN finds a majority expect Obama to win the debates. 59% say Obama’s more likely to do a better job. Only 34% said the same for Romney. 18% of Republicans say Obama has the upper hand. http://goo.gl/hNbL4

WMUR will release the latest Granite State poll (conducted with the University of New Hampshire) during tonight’s evening news.

PRIMARY SEASON WRAPS UP—

CICILLINE WINS IN RHODE ISLAND: Freshman House Democrat David Cicilline, under fire for his fiscal stewardship of Providence, handily beat back a primary challenge last night. Local ABC affiliate coverage: http://goo.gl/84x0a. A DCCC poll shared with Score puts Cicilline up 49-43% over Republican Brendan Doherty, a retired state police colonel and top NRCC recruit. Obama won this district in 2008 with 68% of the two-party vote. Memo: http://goo.gl/agb8k.

NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY—LAMONTAGNE WILL FACE HASSAN: “Republican Ovide Lamontagne and Democrat Maggie Hassan on Tuesday easily won their parties' nominations for the governor's seat being vacated by John Lynch and now head into an intense, eight-week sprint to the general election offering clear differences on many issues,” the Union Leader’s John DiStaso reports. “The candidates, however, agree on one thing. Both say they would veto an income or sales tax. Lamontagne raced ahead of Litchfield consultant Kevin Smith in returns from Lamontagne's native and home city of Manchester and other key communities statewide and continued to a landslide win…Shortly after Smith conceded, Lamontagne told the New Hampshire Union Leader the general election ‘will be about jobs, jobs and jobs.’” Story: http://goo.gl/yZca0. Here’s a 2.5-minute video discussion from WMUR late last night with James Pindell saying that the primaries made both candidates stronger (Hassan positioning herself as the moderate and Ovide getting attacked as not sufficiently conservative): http://goo.gl/3J0Fw.

FIVE LESSONS FROM 2012’S CONGRESSIONAL PRIMARIES: The tea party lost steam, but they still pulled off upsets in Texas and Indiana Senate primaries. GOP leaders were more hands-off and took a less public role in primaries. Money wasn’t everything in Senate primaries. 84 of 87 Republican freshmen won their primaries. “By the time the dust settled from the primaries Tuesday evening, 13 House incumbents had lost re-nomination battles – the most since 1992, when 19 members lost,” Alex Isenstadt and Dave Catanese report. “According to the University of Virginia’s Crystal Ball…2012 had the fifth-most House primary losses of any election in the postwar era…Eight of the 13 members who lost competed against a sitting member of their own party for the same district. A handful of other members – Ohio Rep. Jean Schmidt, Oklahoma Rep. John Sullivan, Stearns, Texas Rep. Silvestre Reyes, and Pennsylvania Rep. Tim Holden — lost to upstart challengers, many of whom ran avowedly anti-incumbent campaigns.” http://goo.gl/7Vily

THE LATEST—U.S. AMBASSADOR KILLED IN LIBYA: The president said in a statement this morning that he’s directed stepped-up security at U.S. missions around the world after a rocket attack in Benghazi killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three American members of the staff.

OVERNIGHT BACK-AND-FORTH OVER NATIONAL SECURITY: The Obama and Romney campaigns went at each other after attacks on U.S. diplomatic posts in Libya and Egypt—

Romney, in a release originally embargoed for midnight (the end of 9/11) but that got out before: “I'm outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American consulate worker in Benghazi. It's disgraceful that the Obama administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.”

Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt fired back with this 12:11 a.m. email to reporters: “We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack.”

ROMNEY TALKERS—

NYT A1 DISSECTS ROMNEY’S VIETNAM STAND: “Some freshmen in Mr. Romney’s dormitory, Rinconada Hall, joined an antiwar commune or fought the draft as conscientious objectors,” writes Michael Wines in today’s Times. “Mr. Romney, though, stayed true to his chinos and the Vietnam War, even joining a counterprotest against the occupation of the office of the university president, Wallace Sterling. Forty-six years later, some classmates remember his pro-war stand as principled and heartfelt; others say he merely championed the worldview of his father, George Romney, then Michigan’s governor, a war supporter and a future contender for the 1968 Republican presidential nomination. Still others say he sailed through the most schismatic moral and political issue of that time — and perhaps of any period since in the United States — with neither much angst nor introspection.” http://goo.gl/YiT43

HE FINESSED AFGHANISTAN PLAN IN RENO: “In his brief discussion of Afghanistan, Romney appeared to support the general thrust of Obama’s policy to hand over control of security to Afghan forces by 2014, though the former Massachusetts governor added some nuances that reflect criticisms of Obama’s policy in Republican foreign policy circles,” Josh Gerstein reports. “While the war in Iraq is over, nearly 70,000 American troops will still remain in Afghanistan at the end of the month. Our goal should be to complete a successful transition to Afghan security forces by the end of 2014. We should evaluate conditions on the ground and solicit the best advice of our military commanders,” Romney said. http://goo.gl/lI50S

PALIN WANTS HIM TO CALL OBAMA A SOCIALIST: “Sarah Palin says Romney’s campaign should be ‘severely aggressive’ in attacking President Barack Obama as ‘incompetent’ and a ‘socialist.’ Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly asked the former Alaska governor on Tuesday if Romney’s campaign - which has come under fire from Republicans - needed to go after Obama in a ‘more personal way’ and use buzzwords like ‘incompetent, dangerous, socialist.’ ‘Those aren’t just buzzwords,’ said Palin. ‘Those are accurate descriptions of the commander in chief.’” Kevin Robillard: http://goo.gl/rG4j4.

OBAMA TALKERS—

WHITE HOUSE DOWNPLAYS REPORTS OF NETANYAHU SNUB: “The White House struggled Tuesday to dispel reports that it had snubbed a request for a meeting this month from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as friction between the two allies again burst into the open,” the Los Angeles Times’ Paul Richter and Kathleen Hennessey write. “As Netanyahu stepped up his criticism of President Obama’s approach to the Iran nuclear threat, Israeli officials disclosed that Netanyahu had sought unsuccessfully to schedule a meeting with Obama at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly session in New York. Netanyahu's office had been told, Israeli officials said, that Obama would not be at the U.N. on Sept. 27 and 28, when Netanyahu would be there. After a day of news reports about the escalating feud, the White House arranged an evening phone call between Obama and Netanyahu and insisted in a statement that the leaders had discussed ‘our close cooperation on Iran and other security issues.’” http://goo.gl/L3kf7

FIRST DELAYED DEPORTEES OKAY’D: “The Obama administration has begun approving young illegal immigrants’ requests to stay in the country under President Barack Obama’s deferred action program, the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday,” Jen Epstein reports. “Three months after Obama announced the program and one month after the department began taking applications, more than 72,000 people have made requests for two years of deferred action — which can be renewed — and a work permit. The department wouldn’t say how many requests have been approved thus far, just that the process of examining the applications has begun.” http://goo.gl/iIrhK

BILL CLINTON’S FIRST ROAD TEST GOES WELL: The Secretary of Explaining Stuff, “speaking at Florida International University for 41 minutes with lots of gusto — and no real script in sight — delivered the goods, and a few not-so-goods, offering a detailed defense of Obama’s policies linked to his own successes in the Oval Office,” Reid Epstein and Glenn Thrush report. “While the speech contrasted Republican ideas negatively with Obama’s vision, Clinton didn’t blast Mitt Romney explicitly and mentioned the former Massachusetts governor by name once. That was, in part, a nod to the solemnity of the Sept. 11 anniversary, but it is also part of Clinton’s commitment to transcending what he views as a coarsening of the process that he, like Obama, had once vowed to elevate. Flawed surrogate that he is, Clinton remains the only game-changer in the 2012, outside the candidates themselves.” http://goo.gl/2L2oa

POTUS HELPED CLINTON WITH SPEECH: “Clinton said Obama made suggestions on the sections of his speech that dealt with Medicare and welfare reform, though the former president declined to say specifically what Obama advised him to modify,” Reid Epstein reports after running into 42 in the hotel lobby of the Biltmore Hotel in Miami. “Clinton said he worked on the speech with National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling, who served in the same role during his administration, and that he showed Obama the full text for his prime-time speech that morning.”

MORE -- Fun color from Reid’s run-in with Bill in the lobby of Miami’s Biltmore Hotel: “Clinton — toting a copy of Milica Z. Bookman’s new book about economics in the afterlife, ‘Do They Take Credit Cards in Heaven?’ — spoke of recruiting presentations he’d attended at the local Mormon church while he was growing up in Hot Springs, Ark. Clinton, a Baptist, said he admires the church for its high ethical standards and belief in a celestial kingdom but said the idea of being in a heaven without his non-Mormon friends was too much to give up. ‘I didn’t want to leave all these other people behind,’ he said.” http://goo.gl/iQbO5

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CHICAGO STRIKE ENTERS DAY 3—FEW SIGNS OF PROGRESS: “As the teachers strike entered a third day, there was no letup in the intensity of union rhetoric and no sign of a breakthrough on the issues separating the two sides and keeping 350,000 students out of school,” per the Chicago Tribune. "There has not been as much movement as we would hope. There's been — let's put it this way — centimeters and we're still kilometers apart," Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said during a late afternoon break in talks. Much of the day was spent going over how teachers would be evaluated, and according to Lewis, while the two sides may have nudged slightly closer, it's an issue unlikely to be resolved soon. http://goo.gl/b7LZP

“A FIGHT FOR THE VERY SOUL OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY”: That’s what Third Way calls the strike. The center-left group sided with Rahm yesterday.

DUNCAN REFUSES TO WEIGH IN: Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who used to run Chicago schools, “says he hopes the union and school board will come together quickly to get kids back in school,” the AP reports. “He says he's confident both sides are working in the best interests of students.”

NYT SIDES WITH RAHM OVER UNIONS: An editorial in today’s paper says “the strike is based on union discontent with sensible policy changes — including the teacher evaluation system required by Illinois law — that are increasingly popular across the country and are unlikely to be rolled back, no matter how long the union stays out.” http://goo.gl/6I2Lg.

BATTLEGROUND BRIEFING—THE PATH TO 270:

WISCONSIN IS IN PLAY – OBAMA FOLLOWS ROMNEY ONTO TV THIS WEEK: Romney is spending about $360,000 for his first week of Wisconsin TV ads, Alex Burns reports. “The heaviest buy is in the Milwaukee media market, where Romney has put in $143,145. That's followed by $71,290 in Green Bay, $62,481 in Wausau, $44,685 in Madison and $39,615 in La Crosse-Eau Claire.” Meanwhile, “the Obama campaign is booking seven days of airtime, from Sept. 13 to Sept. 19. Where the Romney campaign has released one ad, Obama has made reservations for three: two 30-second ads and one 60-second ad.”

RYAN TALKER—RUNNING ADS FOR HIS HOUSE RACE: Ryan’s House campaign will begin running ads today in the Milwaukee and Madison markets, according to the AP’s Brian Bakst. The campaign says they’ll be up through the election. “They will be paid for with a Ryan campaign fund that brimmed with more than $5.4 million as of late July. Officials previously said Ryan filmed a collection of ads before he was named Romney's running mate in early August.” http://goo.gl/17S5l

GOOGLE SEARCHES: The top four states that searched “donate Obama” are New Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia and Delaware. The top four states that searched “donate Romney” are Utah, Vermont, New Hampshire and Wyoming. See how search traffic rose during the conventions in this chart: http://goo.gl/NvT62.

SWING STATE HEADLINES—

COLUMBUS DISPATCH: Secretary of State “Husted follows judge’s order on provisional ballots.” http://goo.gl/DdjKV

MASSACHUSETTS SENATE – WARREN MAY RETOOL ADS SO THEY’RE LESS “PREACHY”: “Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren — amid growing unrest from party activists and leaders — is facing pressure to make a major shift in her television advertising with a new series of commercials that seek to soften her image, while focusing more directly on her GOP rival, Senator Scott Brown,” the Boston Globe’s Frank Phillips reports this morning. “According to top Democratic leaders in Massachusetts, Warren campaign advisers are considering a new strategy that will be aimed at toning down what those leaders call the preachy tone that has dominated her ads until now. Instead, some of the spots would rely more on the voices of voters from all walks of life…Warren’s team — including media consultant and former Clinton aide Mandy Grunwald and top adviser Doug Rubin — has been huddled in meetings considering options… A half-dozen Democrats asked about the ads insisted that Warren…must change her media strategy if she is to beat Brown.”http://goo.gl/Q0aHp

DON PAYNE, the longtime Democratic operative in the Bay State who made Michael Dukakis’ ads in 1982, identifies 13 problems with the Warren campaign in a column for WBUR: “Her vocabulary is coarse,” he writes. “Her family is missing…It’s not about getting out the vote. It’s about getting voters to like her.” http://goo.gl/IIAM6

FLORIDA HOUSE – DOJ DROPS CASE AGAINST BUCHANAN: “Lawyers for GOP Rep. Vern Buchanan say the Justice Department has ended a criminal probe into the Florida lawmaker, including allegations that he improperly reimbursed former employees for contributions to his campaign committee,” John Bresnahan reports. “The decision is a major boost for Buchanan, who has been targeted by Democrats and congressional watchdog groups throughout this election cycle…Buchanan cooperated fully with the criminal probe, first reported in Oct. 2011 by the Bradenton Herald. The New York Times disclosed in February that a federal grand jury was hearing evidence in the case. Buchanan was never directly interviewed in the case by federal investigators, said sources familiar with the probe.” http://goo.gl/XiYpk

TEXAS HOUSE – CONSECO AGREES TO ALL SPANISH DEBATE: “The Democratic and Republican candidates for U.S. House District 23 will face off later this month in the state's first congressional debate to be conducted in Spanish,” the San Antonio Express-News reports. “First-term U.S. Rep. Francisco ‘Quico’ Canseco, R-San Antonio, and his Democratic challenger, state Rep. Pete Gallego of Alpine, will tangle Sept. 25 in a one-hour debate that will be edited to 30 minutes and broadcast at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, on KWEX-TV. The Univision affiliate is collaborating with AARP Texas to stage the event, which will focus on senior issues, including health care…The 23rd District stretches from Bexar County to the El Paso area, making it one of the nation's largest in area.” http://goo.gl/bYKln

UTAH HOUSE – AMERICAN BRIDGE TARGETS LOVE WITH MICROSITE: After a Republican convention speech elevated her, the liberal Super PAC American Bridge 21st Century has launched a new website called StuffMiaLoves.com to highlight her record in the competitive race against Democratic incumbent Jim Matheson. The site notes that she voted to raise property taxes as a member of the Saratoga Springs City Council and ties her to the Ryan budget. Check it out: http://goo.gl/H7cdz.

GEORGIA HOUSE – BARROW SCRUBS STIMULUS BRAG FROM WEB SITE: The Savannah Morning News reports that as recently as February, vulnerable Democratic Rep. John Barrow listed the following accomplishment on his website: “Standing with President Obama to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which has already brought over $200 million in funding for roads, hospitals, schools, transportation, and housing to communities in the 12th district.” Now it’s gone. Delicious spin from the incumbent’s flak: “The stimulus just wasn’t a high priority issue for this election cycle,” said Richard Carbo. “We have other matters we would like to talk about.” http://goo.gl/98CMD

WEST VIRGINIA GOVERNOR – TOMBLIN DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM OBAMA: “Since the day I became governor, I fought the Obama administration’s war on coal,” West Virginia Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin says in his first ad. “I took them to court and we won. I won’t let anyone push us around.” Charlie Mahtesian notes that a felon won 41 percent of the Democratic primary vote against Obama in May. http://goo.gl/63okv

LIGHTER CLICKS –

THE DNC displayed photos of four RUSSIAN warships during the tribute to veterans last Thursday night! “While retired Adm. John Nathman, a former commander of Fleet Forces Command, honored vets as America’s best, the ships from the Russian Federation Navy were arrayed like sentinels on the big screen above,” Navy Times reports. http://goo.gl/dWAtS

BARACK OBAMA joked with a Miami DJ who is known as “the pimp with the limp” during a pre-recorded interview that aired on the morning of Sept. 11. Miami Herald posts transcript and audio: http://goo.gl/BTaJn.

ANDERSON COOPER got bear-hugged by that Florida pizzeria owner who did the same thing to Obama this weekend. 2-minutes: http://goo.gl/5SWVt.

THE WHITE HOUSE has spent two years doing $86 million in construction, but they’re keeping under wraps whatever they actually did and it is underground. AP: http://goo.gl/zjom9.

CONTEXT: Proctor & Gamble spends about the same amount on ads annually ($2.9 billion) as will be spent on all political ads this cycle. Elizabeth Wilner notes in her Ad Age column that political spending for this year is roughly equivalent to a year of insurance ads or six months of carmaker ads: http://goo.gl/7zhHx.

CODA – QUOTE OF THE DAY: “He’s going to call you, no bull----.” – Joe Biden assures Shanksville, Pa., deputy fire chief Brad Shober that his invitation to the White House for a beer is sincere and that an aide will follow-up. He revised his language when he saw a reporter. “This is no malarkey.” http://goo.gl/U2kQ5

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